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by Greg Harvey Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF For Dummies Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 909 Third Avenue New York, NY 10022 www.wiley.com Copyright 2003 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646- 8700. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4447, e-mail: [email protected]. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of Wiley Publishing, Inc., in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Adobe and Acrobat are trademarks or regis- tered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
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is a trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc. About the Author Greg Harvey, the author of more than 50 computer books, has had a long career of teaching business people in the use of IBM PC, Windows, and Macintosh software application programs. From 1983 to 1988, he conducted hands-on computer software training for corporate business users with a variety of training companies (including his own, PC Teach). From 1988 to 1992, he taught university classes in Lotus 1-2-3 and Introduction to Database Management Technology (using dBASE) in the Department of Information Systems at Golden State University in San Francisco. In mid-1993, Greg started a new multimedia publishing venture called mind over media. As a multimedia developer, he hopes to enliven his future com- puter books by making them into true interactive learning experiences that will vastly enrich and improve the training of users of all skill levels. You can send him e-mail at [email protected] and visit his Web site at www.mindovermedia.com. In 1999, Greg began graduate school at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco. In the summer of 2000, he received his master’s degree in philosophy and religion in the area of Asian and Comparative Studies. Currently, he has finished all his coursework in the Ph.D. program at CIIS and is getting ready to begin work on his dissertation in the area of Chinese and Tibetan end-of-life religious beliefs. Dedication To Chris for his unflagging support and encouragement Author’s Acknowledgments Let me take this opportunity to thank all the people, both at Wiley Publishing, Inc., and at Mind over Media, Inc., whose dedication and talent combined to get this book out and into your hands in such great shape. At Wiley Publishing, Inc., I want to thank Steve Hayes and Tiffany Franklin for their considerable help in getting this project underway, Christine Berman for her tremendous expertise as project editor, and Jean Rogers for her great skill as the copy editor, for making sure that the project stayed on course and made it into production so that all the talented folks on the Production team could create this great final product. At Mind over Media, I want to give a special thanks to Michael Bryant, the person primarily responsible for the updating and reorganizing all the mater- ial for this 6.0 version of the software covered in this new edition of the book (fantastic job, Michael!). Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Production Development Project Coordinators: Nancee Reeves, Project Editor: Christine Berman Regina Snyder Acquisitions Editor: Tiffany Franklin Layout and Graphics: Seth Conley, Copy Editor: Jean Rogers Carrie Foster, LeAndra Hosier, Michael Kruzil, Janet Seib Technical Editor: Gordon Kent Proofreaders: Laura Albert, Angel Perez, Editorial Manager: Leah Cameron Carl Pierce, Kathy Simpson, Media Development Manager: Laura VanWinkle Techbooks Production Services Media Development Supervisor: Richard Graves Indexer: Techbooks Production Services Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth Cartoons: Rich Tennant, www.the5thwave.com
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director Publishing for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services Contents at a Glance
Introduction ...... 1 Part I: Presenting Acrobat and PDF Files ...... 7 Chapter 1: The Ins and Outs of PDF Files ...... 9 Chapter 2: Accessing PDF Files ...... 21 Chapter 3: Getting Acquainted with Acrobat 6 ...... 53 Part II: The Wealth of Ways for Creating PDF Files ...... 79 Chapter 4: Distilling PDF Files ...... 81 Chapter 5: Converting Microsoft Office Documents ...... 107 Chapter 6: Capturing Paper Documents ...... 121 Chapter 7: Capturing Web Pages ...... 133 Chapter 8: Printing PDF Files ...... 147 Part III: Reviewing, Editing, and Securing PDFs ...... 159 Chapter 9: Annotating PDF Files for Review ...... 161 Chapter 10: Editing PDF Files ...... 203 Chapter 11: Securing PDF Files ...... 239 Chapter 12: Extracting Text and Graphics from PDF Files ...... 263 Chapter 13: Cataloging and Distributing PDF Files ...... 275 Part IV: PDFs as Electronic Documents ...... 291 Chapter 14: Creating Interactive Forms ...... 293 Chapter 15: Building and Publishing eBooks ...... 327 Chapter 16: Making PDFs into Multimedia Presentations ...... 355 Part V: The Part of Tens ...... 377 Chapter 17: Top Ten Third-Party Acrobat Plug-Ins ...... 379 Chapter 18: Top Ten Online Resources ...... 383 Index ...... 387
Table of Contents
Introduction...... 1 About This Book ...... 1 How to Use This Book ...... 2 What You Can Safely Ignore ...... 2 Foolish Assumptions ...... 3 How This Book Is Organized ...... 3 Part I: Presenting Acrobat and PDF Files ...... 3 Part II: The Wealth of Ways for Creating PDF Files ...... 4 Part III: Reviewing, Editing, and Securing PDFs ...... 4 Part IV: PDFs as Electronic Documents ...... 4 Part V: The Part of Tens ...... 5 Conventions Used in This Book ...... 5 Keyboard and mouse ...... 5 Special icons ...... 6 Where to Go from Here ...... 6
Part I: Presenting Acrobat and PDF Files ...... 7
Chapter 1: The Ins and Outs of PDF Files ...... 9 The Purpose of PDF Files ...... 9 Benefits of Using PDF Files ...... 11 What you designed is what they see ...... 12 PDF files in the review cycle ...... 12 Providing forms, both paper and electronic ...... 12 Document archiving ...... 15 PDF in the prepress workflow ...... 16 Quick and easy Web site retrieval ...... 16 PDF files as slide shows and multimedia presentations ...... 17 The Different Types of PDF Files ...... 18 Chapter 2: Accessing PDF Files ...... 21 Perusing PDF Files in Adobe Reader ...... 21 Downloading and launching Adobe Reader 6 ...... 23 The Adobe Reader window ...... 26 Navigating PDF documents ...... 37 Perusing PDF Files in Acrobat 6 ...... 42 Reading eBooks with Adobe Reader and Acrobat 6 ...... 43 I want my DRM ...... 43 Using the Adobe DRM Activator ...... 44 Dusting Off My Bookshelf ...... 45 Browsing PDF Files in a Web Browser ...... 50 viii Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF For Dummies
Chapter 3: Getting Acquainted with Acrobat 6 ...... 53 Launching Acrobat 6 ...... 53 Opening PDF files for viewing or editing ...... 54 Arranging open PDF files in the Acrobat window ...... 55 Closing open PDF files ...... 56 Getting Comfy with the Acrobat 6 Interface ...... 57 What’s good on the Acrobat 6 menus today? ...... 57 Tons o’ toolbars! ...... 68 Getting all the help you need ...... 73 Viewing the How To window ...... 74 Making quick use of keyboard shortcuts ...... 75
Part II: The Wealth of Ways for Creating PDF Files ...... 79
Chapter 4: Distilling PDF Files ...... 81 Common Ways to Create PDF Files ...... 81 Put away that PDFWriter! ...... 82 Using Create PDF in Acrobat 6 ...... 82 Using the Acrobat 6 Distiller ...... 84 To every PDF there is a purpose ...... 86 Automatically displaying your distilled file in Acrobat ...... 88 Making Adobe PDF settings of your very own ...... 89 Selecting security settings for the new PDF file ...... 101 Automated PDF files — would you watch this folder for me? .....102 Making Acrobat Distiller your printer ...... 104 PDF Files Courtesy of Adobe PDF Online ...... 105 Chapter 5: Converting Microsoft Office Documents ...... 107 Using PDFMaker in Microsoft Office for Windows ...... 108 Automatically viewing the converted PDF in Acrobat ...... 109 Converting and e-mailing PDF files ...... 110 Customizing the PDF conversion settings ...... 111 Converting Office documents to PDF and sending them for review ...... 117 Converting Office X files on the Mac ...... 118 Chapter 6: Capturing Paper Documents ...... 121 Scanning Paper Documents in Acrobat 6 ...... 121 Making scanned documents searchable and editable ...... 125 Correcting Paper Capture boo-boos ...... 127 Importing Previously Scanned Documents into Acrobat ...... 129 Using the Paper Capture Online Service ...... 130 Table of Contents ix
Chapter 7: Capturing Web Pages ...... 133 Opening Web Pages as PDF Files ...... 134 Browsing captured Web pages in Acrobat or Adobe Reader ...... 136 Modifying the Web capture preferences ...... 140 Modifying the Web capture conversion settings ...... 141 Adding Web Pages to a PDF File ...... 143 Adding linked pages to a PDF file ...... 143 Refreshing updated content ...... 144 Chapter 8: Printing PDF Files ...... 147 Printing PDF Files ...... 147 Printing document layers ...... 150 Printing selected pages ...... 152 Printing oversized documents ...... 154 Using the prepress printing settings ...... 155 Troubleshooting Printing Problems ...... 155 Using PrintMe Internet Printing ...... 156
Part III: Reviewing, Editing, and Securing PDFs ...... 159
Chapter 9: Annotating PDF Files for Review ...... 161 Sending Out PDF Files for Review in Windows ...... 161 Initiating an e-mail-based review ...... 162 Participating in an e-mail-based review ...... 164 Setting up a browser-based review ...... 164 Managing reviews with the Review Tracker ...... 169 The Ins and Outs of Bookmarks ...... 171 Generating automated bookmarks ...... 171 Creating manual bookmarks ...... 173 Editing bookmarks ...... 174 Inserting Document Comments with the Commenting Toolbar ...... 176 Using the Note tool ...... 177 Using the Stamp tool ...... 180 Hitting the highlights ...... 184 Inserting Document Comments with the Advanced Commenting Toolbar ...... 186 Using the Text Box tool ...... 186 Using the Attach Sound tool ...... 188 Using the File Attachment tool ...... 190 Mark it well ...... 191 Spelling it out ...... 193 x Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF For Dummies
Viewing Comments in a PDF Document ...... 195 Summing up ...... 195 Showing and hiding comments ...... 196 Finding comments ...... 198 Removing all comments ...... 201 Chapter 10: Editing PDF Files ...... 203 Touching Up the Text and Graphics ...... 204 Using the TouchUp Text tool to edit text ...... 204 Editing text from the context menu ...... 206 Modifying text attributes ...... 207 Touching up your graphic images ...... 208 Page-Editing Practices ...... 212 Rotating pages ...... 212 Cropping pages ...... 213 Replacing pages from other PDF files ...... 215 Inserting and deleting pages ...... 217 Reordering the pages ...... 219 Renumbering the thumbnail pages ...... 219 Adding Headers and Footers to a PDF Document ...... 221 Adding Watermarks and Backgrounds to PDF Documents ...... 223 Adding Articles to a PDF Document ...... 225 Defining articles ...... 226 Checking the flow of a new article ...... 228 Editing Document Layers in a PDF File ...... 229 Flattening PDF layers ...... 230 Merging PDF layers ...... 231 Batch Processing to the Rescue ...... 232 Editing batch sequences ...... 233 Creating new batch sequences ...... 233 Chapter 11: Securing PDF Files ...... 239 Protecting PDF Files ...... 239 Checking a document’s security settings ...... 240 Securing files with low or high encryption ...... 241 Signing Off Digital Style ...... 244 Setting up your profile ...... 245 Modifying the user settings in a profile ...... 246 Signing a PDF document ...... 250 Validating digital signatures ...... 255 Comparing signed documents ...... 259 Encrypting PDF Files ...... 261 Table of Contents xi
Chapter 12: Extracting Text and Graphics from PDF Files ...... 263 Extracting Blocks of Text ...... 264 Using drag-and-drop to copy text ...... 265 Selecting columns of text ...... 266 Selecting tables and formatted text ...... 268 Selecting and Copying Graphic Images ...... 270 Exporting Images in Various Graphics Formats ...... 271 Saving Entire PDF Files in a New File Format ...... 272 Saving PDF files as text files ...... 272 Saving PDF files as HTML files ...... 273 Chapter 13: Cataloging and Distributing PDF Files ...... 275 Cataloging 101 ...... 275 Creating the PDF document collection ...... 276 Building an index for your collection ...... 278 Rebuilding an index ...... 281 Searching a Collection ...... 283 Viewing the search results ...... 286 Refining your search ...... 287 Adding document information (metadata) and date filtering to your searches ...... 288 Distributing PDF Document Collections ...... 289
Part IV: PDFs as Electronic Documents ...... 291
Chapter 14: Creating Interactive Forms ...... 293 Introducing Form Fields ...... 293 Adding Fields to Forms ...... 294 Move those fields! ...... 297 Duplicating form fields ...... 298 Getting Acquainted with Form Field Tools ...... 299 Selecting Form Field Options ...... 300 Jawing about General tab options ...... 300 Applying Appearance tab options ...... 301 Understanding the Options tab ...... 303 Interacting with the Actions tab ...... 306 Getting familiar with the Format tab ...... 314 Viewing the Validate tab ...... 315 Cruising the Calculate tab ...... 316 Sizing up the Selection Change tab ...... 317 Singling out the Signed tab ...... 318 Looking at the Layout Grid ...... 319 What to do with all these fields? ...... 323 xii Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF For Dummies
Chapter 15: Building and Publishing eBooks ...... 327 But First, a Little eBook History ...... 327 Designing eBooks for Different Devices ...... 329 Turning Out Tagged PDF Files ...... 331 Perfecting your eBook in PageMaker ...... 331 What about other layout programs? ...... 340 Designing Library and Cover Graphics ...... 343 Adding a cover graphic to your PDF eBook ...... 344 Adding a library thumbnail graphic to your PDF eBook ...... 346 Links ...... 348 Adding an internal link ...... 348 Using Link Properties options ...... 350 Adding an external link ...... 350 Controlling the Way Text Flows ...... 351 Distributing Your eBooks ...... 353 Chapter 16: Making PDFs into Multimedia Presentations ...... 355 Converting a Presentation to PDF ...... 356 Building Your Own PDF Presentation ...... 357 Having Fun with Photoshop ...... 358 Using Multimedia Objects in a Presentation ...... 361 Inserting a movie in a presentation ...... 362 Inserting a sound in a presentation ...... 366 Making Your Presentation Interactive ...... 366 Viewing a Presentation Full Screen ...... 368 Selecting Full Screen Mode Preferences ...... 368 Using the Image Viewer and Picture Tasks Plug-ins ...... 371 Viewing slideshows with the Image Viewer plug-in ...... 371 Exporting images with the Picture Tasks plug-in ...... 372
Part V: The Part of Tens ...... 377
Chapter 17: Top Ten Third-Party Acrobat Plug-Ins ...... 379
Chapter 18: Top Ten Online Resources ...... 383
Index...... 387 Introduction
dobe PDF (Portable Document Format) is just now starting to fulfill its Apromise as a truly transportable file format that enables people to share sophisticated electronic documents across a wide array of otherwise incom- patible computer platforms without requiring access to either the software that generated the documents or the fonts used in the documents. Part of the proof of this statement is evidenced in the ever-growing presence of PDF documents, especially on the World Wide Web.
Nowadays, you can hardly browse the Web without encountering sites that present some of their online information as PDF files. In fact, so many sites offer their standard reports, registration and feedback forms, and industry white papers as downloadable PDF files that few seasoned business users remain unfamiliar with the PDF format (even if they’re not exactly sure what it is) or the free Adobe Reader software used to open, read, and print docu- ments saved in it.
Beyond the popularity of PDF for information-sharing on the Internet, PDF is also becoming increasingly popular as the format to use for prepress docu- ments, eBook publishing, document review, and document archiving. To ready PDF files for these additional roles, you naturally graduate from the world of the free Adobe Reader and Acrobat eBook Reader to that of Acrobat 6. Acrobat 6 (which, unlike the free Adobe Reader, you must purchase) is Adobe’s latest version of its all-in-one utility for editing, annotating, and managing docu- ments saved in PDF.
As the name Acrobat implies, this utility enables you to juggle the many roles it can assign PDF files with relative ease. All that’s required of you is a keen sense of the role or roles you want your PDF document to fulfill along with a careful reading of the pertinent sections of this book.
About This Book This book is your complete introductory reference to the reading, writing, and managing of PDF files for any and all of their many purposes, from preparing prepress documents for printing on sophisticated imagesetters to publishing your life story as an eBook for sale on the bevy of online book- stores. Because the way you make, prepare, and sometimes even read a PDF file varies according to the purpose you have in mind for it, you will find that 2 Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF For Dummies
this book’s information emphasizes more the purpose you ultimately have in mind for the PDF file than the features used to accomplish this purpose in the various programs such as Acrobat, Adobe Reader, and the Acrobat eBook Reader.
As a result, this book is not meant to be read from cover to cover. Each discus- sion of a topic briefly addresses the question of how a particular feature enables you to accomplish your purpose before launching into how to use it. In Acrobat, as with most other sophisticated programs, there is usually more than one way to do a task. For the sake of your sanity, I have purposely limited the choices, usually by giving you only the most efficient ways to do a particular task. Later on, if you’re so tempted, you can experiment with alternative ways of doing a task. For now, just concentrate on performing the task as described.
As much as possible, I’ve tried to make it unnecessary for you to remember anything covered in another section of the book. From time to time, however, you come across a cross-reference to another section or chapter in the book. For the most part, such cross-references are meant to help you get more com- plete information on a subject, should you have the time and interest. If you have neither, no problem; just ignore the cross-references as if they never existed.
How to Use This Book As a reference to all things PDF, you should start out by looking up the topic you need information on (either in the Table of Contents or the Index) and then refer directly to the section of interest. Most topics are explained con- versationally. Many times, however, my regiment-commander mentality takes over, and I list the steps you need to take to accomplish a particular task in a particular section.
What You Can Safely Ignore When you come across a section that contains the steps you take to get some- thing done, you can safely ignore all text accompanying the steps (the text that isn’t in bold) if you have neither the time nor the inclination to wade through more material.
Whenever possible, I have also tried to separate background or footnote-type information from the essential facts by exiling this kind of junk to a sidebar. These sections are often flagged with icons that let you know what type of information you will encounter there. You can easily disregard text marked this way. (I discuss the icons used in this book a little later.) Introduction 3 Foolish Assumptions I’m going to make only two assumptions about you (let’s see how close I get): You have a need to create and use PDF files in your work, and you have access to Acrobat 6. Some of you are working on PCs running some version of Windows or Windows NT. Others of you are working on Macintosh computers running one of the later versions of the Mac operating system. Note that there are rather specific system requirements for Acrobat 6 whether you use a Windows or Macintosh computer. These requirements are covered in Chapter 1.
Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess what brings you to Acrobat and PDF. Some of you need to know how to convert all your paper documents into PDF files. Some of you need to know how to save your graphics files as PDFs. Others of you need to know how to create PDF form files in which users can submit important data. Still others of you need to know how to create and publish PDF files as eBooks for sale and distribution on the World Wide Web. Regardless of your needs, you will be able to find the information you require somewhere in the pages of this book.
How This Book Is Organized This book is organized into five parts, the first four of which cover all the basics of reading, making, and managing PDF files. The fifth part, the indispens- able Part of Tens, recaps important Acrobat and PDF enhancements and resources. You should not, however, get too hung up about following along with the structure of the book; ultimately, it doesn’t matter at all if you find out how to use Paper Capture to convert printed documents to PDF before you find out how to use PDFMaker 6.0 to convert your Word documents, or if you figure out how to archive your PDF documents in a searchable collection before you discover how to create interactive forms for collecting data online. The impor- tant thing is that you find the information — and understand it when you find it — when you need to do what needs getting done.
In case you’re interested, here’s a synopsis of what you find in each part of this book.
Part I: Presenting Acrobat and PDF Files Part I looks at what makes PDF files tick and the most common ways of accessing their information. Chapter 1 covers the many purposes of PDF documents in today’s business world. Chapter 2 lays out essential informa- tion about using the different Adobe programs that enable you to read and 4 Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF For Dummies
print PDF documents. Chapter 3 acquaints you with the interface of Acrobat 6, Adobe’s utility for preparing and editing PDF documents.
Part II: The Wealth of Ways for Creating PDF Files Part II looks at the many ways of making PDF files. Chapter 4 gives you vital information on how to use and customize the Acrobat Distiller to create the PDF document suited to just the purpose you have in mind. Chapter 5 covers the ins and outs of converting Microsoft Office documents (specifically those created with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) to PDF. Chapter 6 covers captur- ing paper documents as PDF files primarily by scanning them directly into Acrobat 6. Chapter 7 tells you how to capture Web pages as PDF files. Chapter 8 covers the printing of all or part of your PDF files on printers you have in-house.
Part III: Reviewing, Editing, and Securing PDFs Part III covers a mixture of techniques for reviewing, editing, and protecting your PDF files. Chapter 9 introduces you to the many ways for annotating the PDF documents that you send out for online review and introduces the new e-mail-based and browser-based review features in Acrobat 6. Chapter 10 covers editing PDF files in Acrobat 6. Chapter 11 tells you how to secure your PDF documents and protect them from further changes. Chapter 12 acquaints you with the different ways you can extract contents in your PDF files for repurposing with the other software programs you use. Chapter 13 gives you the ins and outs of cataloging your PDF files by creating searchable collec- tions that you can distribute across networks or on CD-ROM.
Part IV: PDFs as Electronic Documents Part IV covers the different roles of electronic PDF files. Chapter 14 covers the creation and usage of PDF documents as interactive forms that you can fill out and whose data you can extract. Chapter 15 acquaints you with creating and preparing PDF files as eBooks for sale and distribution on the World Wide Web. Chapter 16 gives you information on how you can turn PDF documents into online presentations by adding multimedia elements, including audio and video clips. Introduction 5 Part V: The Part of Tens As is the tradition in these For Dummies books, the last part contains lists of the top ten most useful facts, tips, and suggestions. Chapter 17 gives you a list of my top ten third-party (that is, not developed by Adobe Systems) add-in programs for augmenting and enhancing the program’s already considerable features. Chapter 18 gives you a list of my top ten online resources for discov- ering even more about Acrobat and PDF files!
Conventions Used in This Book The following information gives you the lowdown on how things look in this book — publishers call these the book’s conventions (no campaigning, flag- waving, name-calling, or finger-pointing is involved, however).
Keyboard and mouse Although most of the keyboard and mouse instructions given in the text are self-explanatory, there are a few important differences between the typical Windows and Macintosh keyboards and mice that are worth noting here. For example, keystroke shortcuts in Acrobat 6 and Adobe Reader 6 in Windows often use the Ctrl key in combination with one or more letter keys. The Macintosh, however, substitutes its Ô key (called the Command key, the one with the apple and the cloverleaf icon) for the Windows Ctrl key (rather than using its Control key). Also, because the Macintosh keyboard has no Alt key, its Option key is routinely substituted in all shortcuts using the Alt key.
Regarding the mouse, Windows favors a two-button (left- and right-button) mouse, whereas Macintosh favors a single-button mouse. As a result, while you access shortcut (or context) menus in Acrobat in Windows by clicking the right mouse button (a technique commonly known as right-clicking), you hold down the Control (not the Ô) key as you click the mouse on the Macintosh (a tech- nique commonly known as Control+clicking). Note that if you do have a two button mouse on the Macintosh, the right-clicking technique applies.
Other than these common keyboard and mice anomalies, it’s pretty much the same whether you are working with PDFs in Acrobat and Adobe Reader on a Windows or Macintosh machine. In the few cases where there are differences in Acrobat’s capabilities across the platforms, I have duly noted them in the text, usually in the form of a tip or warning (described in the next section). 6 Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF For Dummies Special icons The following icons are strategically placed in the margins to point out stuff you may or may not want to read.
This icon alerts you to nerdy discussions that you may well want to skip (or read when no one else is around).
This icon alerts you to shortcuts or other valuable hints related to the topic at hand.
This icon alerts you to information to keep in mind if you want to meet with a modicum of success.
This icon alerts you to information to keep in mind if you want to avert com- plete disaster.
Where to Go from Here If you’ve never had any prior experience with PDF files, I suggest that, right after getting your chuckles with the cartoons, you go first to Chapter 1 and find out what you’re dealing with. If you’re already familiar with the ins and outs of PDF files, but don’t know anything about how you go about creating them, jump to Chapter 4, where you find out how to get started using Acrobat’s Create PDF features and using the Acrobat Distiller. Then, as specific needs arise (like “How do I annotate PDF documents in Acrobat 6?” or “How do I protect PDF files from further changes?”), you can go to the Table of Contents or the Index to find the appropriate section and go right to that section for answers. Part I Presenting Acrobat and PDF Files In this part . . .
dobe’s PDF (Portable Document Format) is charac- Aterized as a truly universal file format that preserves all the original document’s formatting — including its fonts, graphics, and layout — across a wide array of different computer platforms. This part of the book is where you find out how PDF came to warrant this lofty characterization.
In Chapter 1, you discover the many platforms that support documents saved as PDFs, the many uses for PDF docu- ments in your work, the different classes of PDF files that you will be dealing with, along with a general overview of the process you follow in saving documents as PDF files. In Chapter 2, you get the lowdown on how to use the various PDF reader software programs offered by Adobe Systems, including Acrobat 6, Adobe Reader, and Acrobat eBook Reader. Chapter 3 rounds out Part I by introducing you to the interface of Acrobat 6, the Adobe program that not only enables you to view and print PDF files but edit them as well. Chapter 1 The Ins and Outs of PDF Files
In This Chapter What is a PDF file? The benefits of using PDF files Where PDF files come from The different flavors of PDF files
’m so enthusiastic about Adobe PDF files that I think the abbreviation PDF Ishould stand for Pretty Darn Fantastic instead of the more mundane Portable Document Format. In PDF files, you not only see the first inklings of a truly paperless office (or as close as we’re likely to get), but also the deliv- ery of a truly universal file format; that is, one truly capable of being opened and used on any of the many computer operating systems currently in use.
In this chapter, you get introduced to what makes PDF files so special and how they can be used to your advantage, especially in office environments that mix and match different computer platforms. As part of this process, you also get acquainted with the different versions of PDF files and how they can be tailored to fit the particular needs of those who use the documents.
The Purpose of PDF Files PDF, as the name Portable Document Format implies, was developed by Adobe Systems as a means for digital file exchange. The main idea behind the file format is to enable all computer users to be able to open, review, and print the documents saved in it. This means that users who work on computers that don’t have the software with which the files were originally created can still see the document as it was originally designed and laid out, including all its fonts and graphics. 10 Part I: Presenting Acrobat and PDF Files
The key to this digital file interchange is the nifty little software program known as Acrobat (although Adobe originally named it Carousel when it first appeared in 1993). A free form of this software, known as the Adobe Reader, is available from Adobe Systems for all the major personal computing devices and most versions of all the operating systems known to humankind. As of this writing, these forms include: